If you like trivia games, QuizBlaster is a relatively new Windows Phone 8 game that will test your knowledge and speed. 

QuizBlaster is played in rounds of ten questions and you compete online against other QuizBlaster players to see who can score the most points.  There is a little room for improvement but overall, QuizBlaster is a challenging trivia game for Windows Phone 8.

When you first launch QuizBlaster, you will need to create a player account.  You can do by registering through your Facebook or Twitter account or you can create one through an email address.

QuizBlaster Main Menu and Settings

Once an account is created you will be taken to the game’s main menu where options to play the game, view your stats, and view the online leaderboard are present.  The main menu also offers access to a help screen, the game’s settings and a link to contribute new questions to the developer.  Settings cover turning on/off the game sounds and music, edit your profile and sign out of the game.

Games are played in rounds of ten questions.  You have ten seconds to answer each question and the longer you take, the fewer points you earn.  Correct answers are highlighted in green when tapped and incorrect in red.  If you choose the wrong answer, the correct answer will be highlighted.

QuizBlaster Game Screens and Scoring Summary

At the end of the round, your scoring summary will appear with an opportunity to review the questions/answers.  A few seconds later the round scoring summary will appear showing how your score faired compared to other player scores.  After a few seconds of reviewing the scoreboard, another round of questions will launch.

Question topics include geography, politics, science, arts, sports, and range from the simple to trivia master level.  QuizBlaster can be rather humbling.  While we found QuizBlaster to be a good, head-scratcher of a game but there is room for improvement.

For example, some of the questions are so wordy that it takes the full ten seconds to read.  I would not mind seeing the game show the question, give players a few seconds to read it, and then reveal the answers, which will start the ten-second timer.  The current format does add the challenge of speed to the game but at times, it is almost unfair.  Still, all in all, QuizBlaster is a nice option to consider if you need a quick trivia gaming fix.

QuizBlaster is a free game, available for Windows Phone 8 that you can pick up here in the Windows Phone Store.

It’s Saturday, which means it is time to look back and all that happened in the Windows Phone Store this past week. We’ll reflect on all the new apps that came, all the cool updates, and any betas worth mentioning. Let’s get to this week’s app highlights.

New

Path–This app was announced way back in July during the unveiling of the Nokia Lumia 1020. And it’s finally here. That’s right, you can now join the intimate social network called Path. The app is in “beta” form, yes even after all those months, and so is presumably still not ready for primetime. Want to try it out? Head to the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

Quiet Hours– Have you ever wanted your phone to be absolutely quiet for a period of time? Maybe you’re sleeping or in a meeting? If so, Quiet Hours is for you. The app allows you to set up “do not disturb” periods on your phone. Give it a spin from the Windows Phone Store. (Free/In-app purchase)

SpeedChecker–We’ve already got some solid apps on Windows Phone if you want to check the speed of your network, but one more won’t here. Introducing SpeedChecker for Windows Phone. The app features a beautiful UI for checking out how fast your ping time, download speed and upload speed happen to be. Grab it in the Windows Phone Store. (Free/In-app purchase)

Barclays– Bring on the banking applications! Barclays has finally released an app for Windows Phone. The app is for both personal and business account holders and will allow them to check their account, recent transactions, and make payments. It’s a killer app. Grab it in the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

RoboForm–Managing passwords can be tricky, especially when you have different ones for all the different sites out there. RoboForm is a popular password management service that finally has an app available for Windows Phone users. You can grab it from the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

GetOutCast– Around here we’re big photography fans. We also like the weather. Combine those two interests and you get an app called GetOutCast. It’s a weather app tailored for photographers. It will help you determine whether or not it’s worth going outside to shoot. The first version focuses on sunrise and sunset predictions, but a future update will bring landscape, astrological, lunar and other photographic subjects. The app is available in the Windows Phone Store. (Free for a limited time)

Zoho Books– Zoho is company that produces a variety of business, productivity and collaboration applications in their online suite. The first to make it to Windows Phone is Zoho Books. This app will help you record, monitor, and manage your expenses. Give it a spin from the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

Weather+–Need another weather app? Then you might want to check out Weather+ for Windows Phone. What makes this app unique to the dozens of apps already out there? Beautiful design meets gestures for navigation. It’s really clever. Try it out in the Windows Phone Store. (Free/In-app purchases)

Updated

Foundbite– This week Foundbite picked up a pretty stellar update. Push notifications, commenting, Facebook login, a notification hub, and much more is all new in this update. Grab it from the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

Adidas miCoach– Not a lot of apps take advantage of Bluetooth 4.0 on Windows Phone. Adidas miCoach is one that does and it just received a new update this week. The biggest change is the addition to support their Stride Sensors. Pretty nifty. Grab it in the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

Bing Translator– Here’s a fun update for Bing Translator. It isn’t necessarily notable for any new features that you’ll notice up front, but what’s happening behind. This update brings new improvements to the speech functionality for better quality and responsiveness. Check it out yourself in the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

R.I.P.

6tindr– It was over before the party really got started. Rudy Huyn’s Tinder client for Windows Phone, 6tindr, was pulled from the Windows Phone Store. The app was pulled after a complaint from Tinder was filed with Microsoft. The app had just picked up an update that brought some pretty stellar feaetures to the mix. You’ll be missed 6tindr.

Games

QuizBlaster –Into trivia games? Then you should give QuizBlaster a spin. It features short gameplay with addictive quiz questions. Check it out in the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

FIFA 13–No, FIFA 13 isn’t new to Windows Phone, but it was a Nokia Lumia exclusive at launch. Not anymore. This past week the game lost its exclusivity and is now available for all Windows Phone devices. Of course you’ll need at least 1GB of RAM to take advantage of the fun game. Grab it in the Windows Phone Store. (Trial/$4.99)

Average week overall. Have any fun new apps or games you really liked from the past week? List them below!

Updates, updates, updates! Get your updates here! Kicking off the new week, we have three apps that have been bumped to new versions on the Windows Phone Store. MoWeather is joined by Readit and Minion Rush. Head on past the break to learn what's new in each of the covered apps.

MoWeather 1.2.5.0

​So this is a rather large update. The developer of MoWeather has released version 1.2.5.0 of the app, including numerous new feature and additions. If you're not familiar with the app itself, MoWeather is a super attractive weather app for Windows Phone, offering gorgeous animations for accurate weather readings. While there are multiple weather apps available, we recommend you check this one out.

Here's what's new in version 1.2.5.0:

• New lockscreen and live tile design.
• Update weather data of tile and lockscreen timely.
• Support 3 kinds of tile and 6 ways to flip.
• Fix locating bug. Improve access to accurate local weather.
• Support for 21 countries and regions.

We're digging the new tile and lockscreen designs, not to mention the added customisation just in case you wish to have data displayed your own unique way. You can download MoWeather from the store for free using this link or the QR code below.

Readit 1.4.2.0

​We understand there's nothing more pleasing on a hot Summer's day (or a rather chilly Winter one) than sitting down with a beverage and scroll through hundreds of published reddit stories, be it your favourite cats, memes or simple WTF moments. For Windows Phone, Readit is a super popular, unofficial Reddit client, which has been updated to address a bug introduced in the previous release.

"Touch target improvement introduced a new margin for the subreddit view and for some reason the correct subreddit view file did not get in the submitted package."

A minor update, but worth noting. Download Readit from the Windows Phone Store for $1.99 (free trial available).

Despicable Me: Minion Rush 1.0.0.4

Despicable Me: Minion Rush is a humorous endless runner, which we featured in our top endless runner games roundup. The game features the cute, funny characters we've come to know and love from the hit movie and recently Gameloft released an update to the title on the Windows Phone Store.

While it's not known what version 1.0.0.4 brought to the table, we're assuming this is another minor fix. Our tipster, Himanshu Chowdhary, believes there have been improvements implemented to further optimise the game across a variety of Windows Phones (we're talking about the Lumia 920 and Lumia 520). It's also noted there aren't as many frame rate drop issues with this latest version.

While there are reportedly still some problems, let us know if you've noticed any improvement in the update. You can grab Minion Rush for free from the Windows Phone Store.

Head on over to our forum for more updates and to share your own findings. Thanks to everyone who tipped us on these updates!

For those looking to run Temple Run 2 on their 512 MB Windows Phone, you still have some waiting to do. This morning, version 1.6.1.0 of the app went live in the Store, bringing with it some small bug fixes, but no new features are present that we have noticed.

Released exactly 30 days ago, Temple Run 2 is one of many ‘must have’ games for Windows Phone that are slowly making their way over from other platforms. The game is free and even comes with the vaunted Xbox Live support, making it even more of a lust worthy time killer for endless runner fans (see our roundup of such games here).

The game, like a lot of ported versions, initially lacked 512 MB support. Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore tweeted that this was being worked on and support will come in a later update for Temple Run 2. The Windows Phone ecosystem is a little off balance with the low-cost Lumia 520 from Nokia making a surprising dent in internal market share. As a result, developers are having to play catch up by optimizing for that hardware instead of shooting for more high-end optimizations.

A few readers have noted that with today’s 1.6.1 update, the “review bug” is now fixed. We have only seen this intermittently, but for some users after each run, they were greeted with a “review this game” nag screen each and every time. Hopefully that’s the not case any longer. We’re also going to guess that there are a few other under the hood changes, but developer Imangi Studios is usually not too forthcoming on details.

We’ll keep an eye out for that coveted 512 MB update in the future, but for now, if you’re a Temple Run 2 fan, you can pick up the latest edition here in the Store. Windows Phone 8 only.

Thanks, Himanshu C., for the tip

Asphalt 8: Airborne is a popular racing title available cross-platform, including both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. The game was released on Microsoft's operating systems back in November of last year, but to kick off 2014 with a large burst of NOS, Gameloft have slashed the pricing of both listings to absolutely nothing. That's right, folks – you can now pick up the intense racer for free.

Whether you're a petrol head or simply enjoy hopping into the driver's seat every now and then, Asphalt 8: Airborne on your Windows 8 PC or Windows Phone device is a sweet experience indeed. The only downside to this superb title is the lack of Xbox Live support, but for a game which is now available for free, we're certainly not complaining.

You can grab Asphalt 8: Airborne from the Windows and Windows Phone stores. It requires to 2GB of RAM on your Windows 8 PC or just Windows Phone 8 if you're on your smartphone. Both games are now free. Thanks, Arpit, for the heads up!

Just Hot Air is a golf-styled game for Windows Phone 8 that has you knocking around a small creature instead of a golf ball with the courses laid out more like a game of putt-putt golf.

It is an odd sort of game in that each hole or level of play has a limited number of strokes (known as kicks in the game) and if you go over the limit, the little creature explodes much like a balloon filled with too much hot air.  Graphics are nice, game play challenging but there just seems to be something missing with Just Hot Air to get it over the hump and be a rather attractive Windows Phone game.

Instead of an 18 hole round of golf, Just Hot Air is a multi-level game with each hole representing a level.  You currently have twenty-one levels of play and two little creatures to kick around.

Just Hot Air's Gaming Levels

Game settings are available from the levels menu and cover graphic quality and sounds.  Along with setting the music/sound effects levels, you can set the graphics to high, medium, or low as well as customizing the level of detail for the game.

Just Hot Air Settings

With each level, the goal is to kick your creature into the hole within the set number of kicks.  To kick a creature, just tap on the creature and drag your finger back to set the power of your kick and aim.  When all is set, release your finger.  The fewer kicks it takes to sink the creature into the hole, the higher your score.

Just Hot Air's Overhead View

Your point total for each level is displayed at the top center of the screen and a directional icon is in the upper right corner that will display an overhead view of the entire hole.  The number of kicks you have available will be displayed in the bottom right corner and will vary based on the complexity of the level.

Levels have various challenges to keep things interesting such as sand traps, lava traps and barricades to bounce your shot from.  The current levels are beach themed, which includes a vast ocean that you need to avoid as well.

Just Hot Air Sandtrap

Overall, Just Hot Air is a decent Windows Phone game and has potential.  The 3D graphics aren’t shabby and the levels are challenging enough to keep the game from going stale but, I could not help but feel as though something was missing.  The game does have a slight children’s game feel to it that may water the game down a bit but when the creatures explode and splatters all over your Windows Phone screen, the children's gaming feel fades quickly.

Maybe it’s a golf-styled game played in levels instead of an 9 or 18 hole round but it felt as if the game was incomplete.  There is a local, multi-player mode and more levels of play in development.  Once in these features are added to the mix, maybe Just Hot Air will have more attraction and the feeling that something is missing will fade.  Nonetheless, Just Hot Air is a Windows Phone 8 worth trying and one to keep an eye on as things develop.

Just Hot Air is a free game for Windows Phone 8 devices.  You can find your copy of Just Hot Air here in the Windows Phone Store.

The history of MOGA controller support on Windows Phone has been tumultuous. Microsoft and MOGA manufacturer Power A first announced that the then-upcoming MOGA Pro Controller would be Windows Phone 8 compatible during last year’s GDC. Games would need to specifically support the controller, and only one did at the time: Drift Mania Championship 2. We even played it during the show.

Since then, Power A has mysteriously and illogically refused to acknowledge Windows Phone support on the MOGA packaging and website. But the MOGA Pro Controller does work with Windows Phone, and new MOGA-enabled games continue to trickle out. So here we are at last with our full review, which also includes a tutorial and compatibility guide!

Connecting to Windows Phone

Before you can use a MOGA controller, you’ll first need to connect it to your Windows Phone 8 device. Make sure the controller is charged and then turn it on by moving the switch at the bottom to position A. If the controller is already on A but has fallen asleep, switch it off and then back to A again.

• Launch your phone’s Bluetooth menu from Settings or using a handy app like Network Switcher.
• Make sure Bluetooth is turned on.
• You should see Moga Pro (or another MOGA name) on the list of devices with a description of “not connected.”
• Tap the controller name. The description should go from “connecting” to “connected” after a few seconds. If it fails to connect, verify the controller is still on, tap the name and try again. Some devices will only allow the MOGA to connect after removing other Bluetooth profiles from the device.
• Once the controller’s status reads “connected” in green letters, you’re ready to play!

Note that the controller status will revert to “not connected” if you remain on the Bluetooth screen. It’s still paired to your device and will reconnect as long as you launch a MOGA compatible game before the controller enters sleep mode and powers off.

Now launch your MOGA compatible game! Don’t resume an already-running game; relaunch it. Some games or apps like SNES8X will require users to enable MOGA controls in their settings menus before the controller starts to function. Other games like Gameloft’s titles recognize the controller by default.

Power Pro Controller design

Now then, let’s talk about the Pro Controller itself! Inside the packaging, you’ll find the controller, a stand for tablets, a micro-USB cable for charging the controller, and a download code for a MOGA-compatible Android game. I’d bemoan the lack of a Windows Phone code, but Windows Phone doesn’t support download codes yet anyway.

The Pro Controller’s shape closely resembles that of an official Xbox 360 controller. In fact, they’re practically identical in size. Like the 360 pad, the Pro has two analog sticks, a digital d-pad, four primary buttons, and two secondary face buttons (Select and Start) on its face. Instead of a guide button, this one has a MOGA button – but I don’t believe Windows Phone games use it.

The Pro Controller’s d-pad is actually superior to that the 360’s famously poor d-pad. It has four distinct directions, much like a traditional Nintendo-style pad. The inner section of the d-pad curves inward, allowing a thumb to rest comfortably between the directions. I won’t say the Pro's d-pad feels quite as good as that of an Xbox One controller, but it’s close.

The top of the controller has left and right bumpers and analog sticks, just like the Xbox 360 controller. Only here they're called L1 and L2 and R1 and R2 – a strange combination of Playstation nomenclature with an otherwise Xbox-inspired design. The bumpers actually feel better and more responsive than the shoddy Xbox One bumpers, and the triggers feel great as well.

The top of the controller also holds a micro-USB port. The Pro Controller requires its internal battery to be charged in order to function. The battery should last 12-15 hours between charges – quite a fair length of time. The controller can be used while connected to a power source as well. Should you forget to switch the controller off manually, it will shut itself down after five minutes of disuse.

Tucked away on the back of the controller, you’ll find a single button. This toggles a blue light behind the four primary face buttons on or off. Pretty, but a waste of battery power.

Kung fu grip

The Pro Controller has an extensible flip-out controller grip that can comfortably hold most phones – even the huge Lumia 1520. The popular 920’s power button sits right under the grip, but the button won’t press on its own unless you squeeze down on the grip.

With a phone inserted in the Pro, the whole thing weighs slightly more than a typical console controller. It also balances awkwardly and will fall over if set down. But I still found the Pro Controller/Lumia 920 combo comfortable to hold while playing – the excellent ergonomics and ridged grips certainly help.

If you don’t care to hold the controller and phone at the same time, the included tablet stand can hold a Windows Phone with ease. The stand folds out into a tripod while in use, and then compacts into a small rectangle when you’re done.

Overall Impression

The Pro Controller is a joy to use, though sometimes less so during menu navigation. It took me a few minutes to figure out the interface for Dungeon Hunter 4’s world map, which spreads controls across both analog sticks and the triggers. The popular Nintendo emulators don’t even support the controller during menu navigation, though developer Illidanx says he might fix that in the future. But Aztec Antics and Asphalt 7 have great menu navigation, so it just depends on the game.

Once you start playing a game and learn its controls, the Pro Controller really shines. Virtual analog sticks are fine, but any hardcore gamer would opt for physical controls if given the choice. And even though the list of supported titles is still kind of small, it feels much greater when you factor in emulators. Combine a MOGA controller with SNES8X and you literally get the experience of a portable Super Nintendo with very little trade-off.

Of course, the Pro Controller isn’t the most portable accessory ever. It can fit in a pants pocket, but will bulge and you risk damaging the analog sticks. I transport mine in one of my laptop bag’s pockets. Still, I expect many users will stick to using MOGA controllers at home. Yeah, you could be playing an Xbox One or 360 instead. But sometimes you want to play away from the TV, in bed or wherever. Most of us probably don’t have access to emulators on our consoles, either.

If playing games on your phone with a controller sounds good to you, look at the supported games list and then decide whether to purchase. Gamers with both Windows Phone and Android devices should just buy right away – Android has great MOGA support. And let’s all tell Power A we want official, non-secret Windows Phone support for MOGA by tweeting @MOGAanywhere.

Compatible games and emulators

Games must specifically support the MOGA controller in order to work with it. As of this writing, a total of 13 games and emulators offer such support. That number will surely grow over time. For the most up-to-date list, visit Windows Phone Central’s MOGA compatibility thread in the forums. Developers can grab the SDK from the MOGA website.

• Asphalt 7: Heat
• Asphalt 8: Airborne
• Aztec Antics
• Drift Mania Championship 2
• Drift Mania: Street Outlaws
• Dungeon Hunter 4.
• Skateboard Party 2
• Spectral Souls
• EmiPSX
• EMU7800
• SNES8X
• VBA8
• VGBC8

Controller compatibility guide

When I discussed MOGA with Microsoft at GDC, I was told that only the MOGA Pro Controller would work with Windows Phone 8. The previously released and more affordable MOGA Pocket Controller was incompatible, they said. Months later, we learned that the original MOGA does indeed work with Windows Phone 8. Chalk the incompatibility report up to a misunderstanding from the event staff; it happens.

In fact, it turns out that all Android-compatible MOGA controllers released so far are compatible with Windows Phone 8: not just last year’s Pocket ($29.99) and Pro ($49.99) models, but also this year’s Hero Power ($59.99) and Pro Power ($79.99) controllers. The cheapest Pocket model lacks Left and Right triggers, limiting its ability to perform functions in games that use those buttons such as Dungeon Hunter 4. Otherwise, buy the one whose features and price is right for you.

That wealth of options is important because Power A is actually phasing out the MOGA Pro Controller featured in this review. In its place, they’re now offering the Power Pro Controller. The Power Pro shares the same ergonomic design and adds a few new features like vibration and an improved phone mount. Most importantly, it can charge your phone with its internal battery via USB output.

MOGA controllers do not work with Windows 8 and RT at present, nor will they ever be Windows Phone 7 compatible.

• MOGA Pocket Controller – Windows Phone 8 and Android – $29.99 – Amazon
• MOGA Pro Controller – Windows Phone 8 and Android – $37.49 at Computech (supplies are limited)
• MOGA Hero Power Controller – Windows Phone 8 and Android – $59.99 – Amazon
• MOGA Power Pro Controller – Windows Phone 8 and Android – $79.99 – Amazon

Ready for another addictive game? Let’s check out I Surrender! It’s a platform game developed by FlooStudio from Indonesia. The point of the game is to avoid crashing into blocks. The only action required from you is a tap on the screen to jump. Sounds simple? Head past the break to watch our gameplay video.

The graphics in I Surrender! is minimalistic. The only colors shown are shades of red, black, and white. You control a black box with a face. It moves automatically for you. Each level is split in half. When you’re on the top half, you’re moving towards the right. You continue at the bottom half where you’re moving towards the left.  

There are obstacles in different shapes that require perfect timing from you to avoid crashing. If you jump too early, you’ll crash. If you jump too late, you’ll crash. There are words in the background that either challenge you to keep going, or encourage you to give up.

While some of the levels become very difficult, we actually find it hard to surrender. This game is very addictive. When you crash, the level automatically restarts and the death counter on the upper left corner simply increases. If you don’t do anything, you’ll keep crashing and the death counter continues going up.

When you get frustrated, just press the back button. The game then asks you to confirm that you want to surrender. Click no if you want continue playing.

I Surrender! includes 15 levels,  but we haven’t got that far yet. The latest update, version 1.01, has added an online leaderboard so you can see how the best players are doing. The lower the number of deaths puts you higher on the leaderboard.

I Surrender! is a free game at the Windows Phone Store. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments!

We have some great news for you Subway Surfers fans out there, as version 1.18.1 is now live in the Store. The update brings the brand new World Tour: Miami level.

Windows Phone users had to skip World Tour: Mumbai due to the extended Christmas theme and challenges. Those ended yesterday. What’s more, Windows Phone is getting the update the very same day as iOS and Android, making it one of the first times all three platforms land at once.

Now for the bad news: this update does not bring 512 MB support. Users will still need 1 GB of more RAM in order to get in on the latest Miami action, so users of the Lumia 520, 620, 625 and 720 will have to sit this one out.

Kiloo Games and Sybo Games have teamed up for the Windows Phone version and the ‘World Tour’ series basically is a re-skin of the game with new daily challenges and contests. Sure, it’s just a re-skinning, but endless runners have very high replay value and getting a fresh look is always a welcomed treat (especially after being chased by Santa for weeks).

The new Miami theme features collectible pink flamingos, bright green trains, pink structures and palm trees. Users can also vie for ‘funky new outfits for Nick and Tasha’ and with the weekly flamingo-challenge contests, fans of the game can struggle to get limited edition upgrades and bonuses.

We have to admit, the game looks much fresher now with the bright new look and it’s a great escape from the doldrums of winter. Considering this is our top endless runner (sorry, Temple Run 1 and 2), we’re excited to see this game keep parity with iOS and Android. Too bad about the 512 MB support, but hopefully that will be coming soon.

[Note: the update is really new to the store, so give it time if you don’t see it]

Head here to the Store to pick up Subway Surfers: Miami World Tour. Windows Phone 8 only, 1 GB of RAM required.

Thanks, Giordano P., for the tip!

After another week with no new Xbox release on Windows Phone, only a solid Xbox Red Stripe Deal could cure Achievement-hungry Windows Phone gamers’ woes. This week’s deal is a repeat though, having previously been on sale in 2012 and 2013. Collapse! from Game House has been marked down to 99 cents from $2.99. Exciting or no, it’s still a good choice if you’re looking for a good, simple puzzle game or just the easiest Achievements around. Descriptions and Store Links after the break!

The regular Red Stripe deals include three more games: Fate of the Pharaoh from K.I.D. d.o.o. (seriously, that is the publisher’s name) for 99 cents, Baker Business 2 from Living Code Labs for $1.49, and Strata from Graveck Interactive for 99 cents. The apps MyTextTwister Pro from KunRuch Creations and PC Remote Pro from PC Remote (?) are both on sale for 99 cents as well. 

Collapse (Windows Phone 7 and 8)

Regular price: $2.99 Sale price: $.99 Download size: 18 MB Store Link

Here’s one of those Xbox titles that should really cost 99 cents all the time, but whateva.

Collapse! is a simple puzzle game in which players slide blocks up and down to make colored matches. It’s a simple but fun puzzle mechanic. The sprawling Adventure mode offers plenty of twists on the standard gameplay, plus a simple character customization system. Progressing through Adventure also unlocks extra game types in Quick Play.

Now here’ why Achievement hunters will want to buy Collapse! posthaste. For better or worse, this game has the easiest Achievements of any Xbox Windows Phone game. You can seriously get them all in 20 minutes or less. You don’t have to beat the full campaign at all. Check out our full review for more details.

Fate of the Pharaoh (Windows Phone 8)

Regular price: $1.99 Sale price: $.99 Download size: 62 MB Store Link

Remember that animated movie Prince of Egypt? Me neither, but somebody made an unofficial game of it anyway. Just kidding.

This game is tough to make out from screenshots, but basically has you building little cities across ancient Egypt. Each level gives you specific objectives to complete, and you can replay them for different star ratings as well. Kind of like Farm Frenzy 2, I guess.

Features:

• 44 amazing levels to pass
• 9 riveting chapters
• 9 desirable achievements to earn (non-Xbox)
• Engaging in-game encyclopedia

Baker Business 2 (Windows Phone 8)

Regular price: $2.99 Sale price: $1.49 Download size: 35 MB Store Link

Living Code Labs has published nothing but variations of Baker Business 2 on Windows Phone: the regular version, Christmas, and Halloween. Those guys must love their baking!

Anyway, this is a casual but realistic simulation of owning an actual bakery shop. The graphics are pretty and the gameplay is easy to learn. At the very least, it will make you want to eat lots of cake and cookies.

Features:

• Play all 30 levels and unlock over 130+ items including: cakes, cookies, pies, bread, coffee, tea, cocoa, soda pop and MUCH more!
• Unlock perks and promotions that’ll make your bakery thrive!
• Customize your bakery with different shelf choices and wallpaper
• Learn basic business skills by managing money with easy to understand finance reports
• Easy to play and suitable for all ages
• Don’t worry about in-app purchases, you’ll get it all with this one time buy!

Strata (Windows Phone 7 and 8)

Regular price: $1.99 Sale price: $.99 Download size: 11 MB Store Link

Puzzle games don’t tend to be all that exciting, but at least Strata has a truly unique concept. Players must arrange colored ribbons in order to match the goal pattern. The patterns get more complex as the game goes on, which should prove nice and challenging. Our own George Ponder calls it addictive. Also, this one runs on Unity.

Features:

• Hundreds of increasingly bigger and more challenging grids.
• Option to Perfect each grid by completing it without pulling a ribbon back.
• A simple, yet addicting game for any age.
• Beautifully recorded sounds accompany your actions.

MyTextTwister Pro (Windows Phone 7 and 8)

Regular price: $1.99 Sale price: $.99 Download size: 1 MB Store Link

Let’s face it, text messages and tweets are generally too easy to read.  You can fix that by typing worse and mixing up homophones, but that only goes so far. To really make your messages confusing, you need the text to be upside down and riddled with Ascii characters and stuff. That’s why TextTwister was invented. Just keep in mind the receiving device has to be capable of receiving your garbled message, otherwise it might come out looking normal!

Features:

• Type in inverted, rounded, leet speak and many more..
• Use 1200+ emoticons (emojis)
• Add ASCII art decorations
• SMS or email your created text directly from the app.
• Post to social networking sites (configured on phone) directly from the app

PC Remote Pro (Windows Phone 7 and 8)

Regular price: $2.99 Sale price: $1.49 Download size: 3 MB Store Link

Want a more practical app? PC Remote Pro lets you control a PC from the comfort of your phone, using it as a media remote and all kinds of fun things. The PC just needs to be running the companion app and you’re good to go. This one comes in a free version as well, but the paid version has more features so that’s the way to go.

Features:

• Connect PC via Internet (from anywhere!)
• Mouse – We support Windows 8 gestures like swipe on edges, advanced multi touch gestures, zoom, drag n drop, scrolling and clicks.
• Remote desktop – View and interact with desktop screen with multi touch gestures.
• Keyboard – Full desktop keyboard with ability to copy text from phone and paste it on PC. How cool is that!
• Files – View files of PC on your phone and open them with one click. Copy files to and fro from your PC to phone and use phone as USB drive to copy files.
• Custom remote – Create your own remote with your own hot keys. Very simple interface on server to add new remote. Isn’t that cool.
• Wake on LAN – Wake your computer if WOL supported.
• Hotspot – You are at place with no wifi eg. Coffee shop. Make your PC Remote Server as hotspot and connect phone to it. No use of data plans.
• Zune – Play a Zune playlist or song
• Youtube – Search videos in the app and open them on your PC with one click.
• Windows Media Center, VLC, XBMC – Full remotes for these apps.
• Powerpoint – Control presentations
• Media Controls for iTunes, Spotify, Media Player Classic, Winamp, Netflix, Hulu, Windows Media Player
• Power controls: shutdown, logoff, sleep, hibernate and more
• Volume control

Flower Garden is a super popular game by Snappy Touch (www.snappytouch.com/flowergarden) and is already available on both iOS and Android. The developer has now released the nature inspired title to Windows Phone, enabling you to get creative with gardening, regardless as to whether you have green thumbs or not. It's a game, but you also have social features bundled with some stress relief and more. Sounds interesting? Pass the break for more details.

With Flower Garden, players are tasked with planting different seeds, watering them and subsequently monitoring their progress as they grow over time. While some flowers will shoot straight up almost immediately, other flowers will take some time and require care each day over the course of a week or so. It's a strange concept, but a soothing one at that. Stressed out? Open up your garden and cater to your buds.

What makes Flower Garden interesting is the added feature, opening up social functionality. Proud of the flowers you've managed to grow? Share them with friends to boast just how great you are. That or make a bouquet and send the end result to a loved one. A personalised card and note can be added and brings a unique option to the Windows Phone games category. 

Here are some features highlighted on the store listing:

• A virtual garden complete with the serene sights and sounds of the outdoors
• Over 50 types of seeds to unlock
• Create mixed bouquets of your best blossoms to share with loved ones
• Full 3D flowers and bouquets that react to the touch
• Unique flowers with realistic growth behaviors
• A forgiving garden where flowers will wilt but not die while waiting to be tended
• Email bouquets with personalized cards and custom backgrounds for the perfect composition

Since Flower Garden is a free title for Windows Phone, there are a variety of in-app purchases available, should you wish to support the developer and extend your enjoyment. These optional extras help speed things up and provide additional content.

​You can download Flower Garden from the Windows Phone Store for free (funded in-app purchases). Not sure whether it's a game for you? Hold off until we throw up our review for Flower Garden soon.

Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: Top Rated Racing Games

Windows Phone racing games are a great way to pass the time with.  These games have outstanding graphics, challenging game play and overall an entertaining venture.  Games such as Asphalt 8, Dhoom:3 The Game, and even Angry Birds Go! are top choices in the Windows Phone Store.

For this week’s Windows Phone Central roundup, we turn our sites on four racing titles that have not received much exposure.  They all are rated with four stars or higher and in tinkering with the games over the week, they each have their own level of appeal.  A few of the games could stand for a little fine-tuning and bug fixes but overall, we can see why they are highly rated.

Ice Road Truckers (no trial/$.99)

We briefly touched on Ice Road Truckers back when the History Channel first released this Windows Phone 8 game.  The game is loosely based on the History Channel’s television series that bears the same name and follows a group of truckers who haul their loads across the frozen roads of the Alaskan and Canadian Artic territories.

The game plays more like an endless runner than a racing game in that you are called upon to drive your big rig across frozen roads to see how far you can travel before driving into a frozen pond, crash into a patch of trees or generally lose control of your truck and crash.

Ice Road Truckers Game Screen

Along the way, you can collect coins that are scattered along the road that can be used in the game’s store to buy power-ups, boosts and unlock some of the Ice Road Truckers who have varying abilities.

Controlling the big rig is simple.  Tap the right corner of the screen to steer right, tap the left corner to go left.  When you need a boost of speed, press and hold both corners at the same time.

Ice Road Truckers Scoring Summary

Graphics are well done, game play mildly challenging but the game has a few graphics bugs that really kill the entertainment value of the game.  Once you crash and burn, a scoring summary screen will appear where you can try the game again or visit the game’s store.  If you go to the Store, the map overlay from the scoring screen will not go away and will require you to re-launch the game to set things right.  If this bug can be fixed, Ice Road Truckers would be a great racing game for Windows Phone 8.  As is, you will need a little patience or avoid visiting the game’s store.

There is not a trial version (don’t blame us) available for Ice Road Truckers.  The game is available for Windows Phone 8, currently priced at $.99 and you can find Ice Road Truckers here in the Windows Phone Store.

3D Brutal Chase (free)

3D Brutal Chase has been around for some time now and remains one of the higher rated racing games in the Windows Phone Store.  The game puts you behind the wheel of a police cruiser where you are tasked with chasing down the bad guys and smashing into their car.

Game play spans nine cities and as you catch the bad guys, you’ll earn revenue that can be used to purchase new cruisers or upgrade your current fleet.

3D Brutal Chase Controls

You control your police cruiser’s steering with the tilt sensors in your Windows Phone or on-screen steering controls.  You also have on-screen controls for the cruiser’s brakes and turbo boost.  Each of the nine cities with 3D Brutal Chase has multiple levels that are progressively more challenging.

Game play is simple, smash into the bad guys’ cars.  A damage meter will appear above their cars and you continue to smash their cars until they are disabled.  You will need to take out all the bad guy’s cars before the timer strikes zero (displayed in the upper right corner of the game screen).  The quicker you take down the criminals, the more revenue you earn that can be spent in the store.

3D Brutal Chase Garage

3D Brutal Chase is an ad-supported game but with any in-app purchase of revenue credit ($.99 - $5.99) the banners will be removed.  Which is a good thing because while the ad banners are in place, the game has a cluttered feel to it.

Game play is challenging enough to keep the game from getting stale and overall, I can see why 3D Brutal Chase is rated so high.  The game is available for both Windows Phone 7.x and 8 devices and is a free ad-supported title.  You can find 3D Brutal Chase here in the Windows Phone Store.

Kamikaze Race (free)

Kamikaze Race is another endless racer but from a different point of view.  Instead of racing from behind the wheel or from a behind the vehicle approach, Kamikaze Race puts you above the racetrack.

You are tasked with seeing how far you can race down the highway while ducking in and out of traffic.  The further you go, the higher the score and the more coins you earn that can be spent in the game’s store to buy new cars to race.

Kamikaze Race Menus and Store

Kamikaze Race’s gaming controls have you tapping the left side of the screen to change lanes to the left and tapping the right side of the screen to move right.  The further you survive traffic, the faster your car goes.  If another car hits you, the game ends.

To keep things challenging, you will lose sight of your car from time to time while driving beneath overpasses or have a friendly airplane fly across the screen.  You will need to predict traffic flow during these blackout periods and move accordingly or stay in your lane and cross your fingers that you come back into view before smashing into a car.

Kamikaze Race Missions, Game Screen and Scoring Summary

Kamikaze Race is a simple game for our Windows Phone but challenging enough to keep you interested.  I’m not sure if it could hold up to longer gaming sessions but for short bits of time, it is a nice time waster of a game.

Kamikaze Race is available for both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices.  It is a free, ad-supported game with a few in-app purchases to boost your in-game bank account.  You can find your copy of Kamikaze Race here in the Windows Phone Store.

Real Speed: Need for Asphalt Racing (free)

Real Speed: Need for Asphalt Racing is a road course styled racing game with appealing graphics and challenging game play.  The game includes six different sports cars that are progressively unlocked as you advance through the game.  Races are held on four different road tracks that are also progressively unlocked.

Real Speed: Need for Asphalt Gaming Screen

Real Speed offers two steering control methods.  You have an on-screen steering wheel or you can opt to use your Windows Phone tilt sensors to guide the car down the track.  On-screen pedals are present to control acceleration and braking (you also have a hand brake for drifting). 

Game play follows suit with your typical race.  You have a set number of laps to complete in the best time possible.  Real Speed does include a few racecars to compete against but you cannot smash into them (you simply float through them like a ghost).

Real Speed: Need for Asphalt Racing Garage

I really wanted to like Real Speed: Need for Asphalt Racing but found the steering controls to be extremely sensitive.  It was hard to get a feel for controlling your car through the “S” curves of the track, let alone the single curves.  I would have liked to have seen a sensitivity control for the tilt sensor to prevent the over steering.  Fine tune the steering controls and Real Speed will shine a lot brighter.

Real Speed: Need for Asphalt Racing is a free, ad-supported game that is available for Windows Phone 8 devices (including the low-memory models).  You can find Real Speed: Need for Asphalt Racing here in the Windows Phone Store.

Any Stand-outs?

Each of the racing games in this week’s roundup pulls in a four-star rating in the Windows Phone Store and the more I played each game, the more they grew on me.

I cannot say that one game is necessarily better than the others.  I do think Real Speed has the nicest graphics but the more challenging controls.  Ice Road Truckers has potential but I expected more than just an endless trucking game and the graphics bugs can be frustrating.  Kamikaze Race has the simplest graphics but holds its own with regards to being a challenging game to play.  3D Brutal Chase is a fun game but unless you get rid of the ads, the game has a cluttered feel making it hard to enjoy.

If I had to pick just one of the four games to keep installed on my Windows Phone, it would be Kamikaze Race.  While you lack the graphic impact the other games have, Kamikaze Race is a fun and challenging racing game.  It is well suited for short bits of time and can last a little longer if needed.

We have only scratched the surface on all the racing games available in the Windows Phone Store.  If we have missed your favorite racing game (it wasn’t on purpose) feel free to sound off in the comments.

Asphalt 7 and 8 are the best-known racers on Windows Phone 8, and deservedly so. But the series appeared on Windows Phone (and even Windows mobile) before. Asphalt 5 arrived as an Xbox Windows Phone 7 game way back in July 2012, more than a year after Gameloft first announced it.

Some Windows Phone 7 games have trouble running on low-end Windows Phone 8 devices with 512 MB of RAM, even though Windows Phone 7 itself tops out at 512 MB RAM. Asphalt 5 has long been one of those 512 MB-incompatible games. That changed this week when it finally became compatible, despite the lack of a title update. On the downside, both Asphalt 5 and 7 have inexplicably gone up in price. More details after the break.

Asphalt 5

There are only two known reasons that a Windows Phone 7 game would run on 1 GB Windows Phone 8 devices but not 512 MB ones.

First: Windows Phone 7 and 8 handle RAM differently from each other. A game that fits adequately within the allotted space on Windows Phone 7 might require more memory to run on Windows Phone 8, hence the need for 1 GB or more of RAM. Second: the game could require a gyroscope – a hardware feature not found in the Lumia 520 and other low cost devices.

Developers can optimize a Windows Phone 7 game to run on next-gen 512 MB devices, much as they can work to add compatibility to games that won’t run at all on Windows Phone 8. But both actions usually require a title update, as changes to the code of the game are necessary to increase compatibility.

Somehow Asphalt 5 now works on the Lumia 520 and other 512 phones even though the game itself has never been updated. We can’t say for certain what happened. Perhaps a Store setting had incorrectly prevented Asphalt 5 from running on 512 devices even though it should have been compatible – that does happen now and then. In any case, owners of low-end Windows Phone 8 handsets can now play another racing game… Even though Asphalt 7 is also 512 MB compatible and a much better game overall.

• Asphalt 5– Windows Phone 7 and 8 – 110 MB – $4.99 – Store Link

Asphalt 7: Heat

This game has been out for a while, but it made headlines recently when we discovered Gameloft has quietly given it MOGA controller compatibility. The sequel Asphalt 8 has already come around and features the same compatibility, but it lacks the Xbox features of parts 5 and 7.

Today’s less happy news about Asphalt 7 is that its price has gone up from 99 cents to a whopping $4.99 on all Windows platforms. A few Xbox Windows Phone titles have experienced price increases in the past, but never one so large as this. The iOS version still rings up at 99 cents, and even Asphalt 8 for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 is now free to play, so the $4.99 price point really stings.

I can speculate a couple of scenarios here. First: the price change could be a mistake. Clearly there has been some behind-the-scenes tinkering with Asphalt 5’s Store page as of late, so maybe someone accidentally copied that game’s too-high price over to Asphalt 7 as well. Update: Because of the Windows 8 version's price increase, this explanation seems unlikely.

The other (most probable) possibility is that Gameloft intentionally raised the price in order to encourage people to play Asphalt 8 instead. Since Asphalt 8 lacks Xbox Live features, I wouldn’t be surprised if it hasn’t been downloaded nearly as much as its predecessor. 8’s recent switch to free to play status should have helped it overtake 7 eventually anyway, but you never know.

Update: Gameloft has confirmed that the price increases on Asphalt 5 and 7 are intentional.

• Asphalt 7– Windows Phone 8 – 911 MB – $4.99 – Store Link
• Asphalt 7– Windows 8 and RT – 0.99 GB - $4.99 – Store Link

Thanks to Mohamed Ashid for the tip!

Collectible card games are a fairly popular genre of video games as of late. You’ve got the likes of Hearthstone in closed beta from Blizard (the company behind World of Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo), but there are also small gems out there looking to tap into the market. This movement includes the likes of Permia Duels (www.permiaduels.com) from Seepia Games. If you’re seeking a fantasy adventure, while being able to build an unbeatable deck of cards, pass the break for more details as this is the mobile game for you.

Permia Duels is the second title from the independent developer, based in Lappeenranta, Finland. As touched on above, it’s a multiplayer collectible card game in which a single game takes less than a handful of minutes. That’s the main attraction of Permia Duels. You can pick it up when on the move, have a quick game and either win or lose before needing to stash away your Windows Phone. As an added bonus, Permia Duels is also product of the Nokia, Microsoft and Aalto University Appcademy program.

The game board. It's not as complicated as it looks.

If you’re also a fan of turn-based strategy games that require a solid mindset and some crafty thinking, Permia Duels is right up your street. Not only have you got the goal to form the best dueling deck possible, but there’s ample enjoyment when using your card collection against live opponents. So, how does the game work? What do players have to achieve to win a “round”? Fear not, this game is by no means complicated, but there's definitely room to invest hours upon hours into the addictive gameplay.

Permia Duels is pretty straight forward and simple, so don’t freak out when first playing the title through with all the numbers, units and upgrades available. Essentially, the goal is to be the player with the most units in play when the round is over. Each card has an assigned number per side.  When you place a card down, should your numbers be greater than what’s connected to them on an enemy card, you take control of said card. It works both ways, so be sure to protect your low figures and kick some ass with those high values (note: you can't turn cards).

Upgrade older cards to create the perfect deck.

Losing and gaining cards placed (one is placed per turn by each player), you have to think wisely and have a strategic mind analysing what’s already on the table, as well as in your deck. It’s not that easy though. Not only do you have different units, but there are multiple land types, which provide extra powers to certain units when placed on appropriate spots. This adds a subtle, but welcomed boost to the game, not making it simply about who has the highest digits. Build a well rounded deck.

Purchase booster packs and "Qual" from the in-game store.

When not in an active game and challenging other players, you can utilise the tools and means available to create your tailored deck. This includes sacrificing cards in your deck to create new, powerful ones in their place, as well as purchasing booster packs to get stronger units to play with. The game itself is free, but the in-game currency can be purchased from the store. Highest ranking players will receive some “great rewards.”

Interested in starting your own deck? You can download Permia Duels from the Windows Phone Store for free. As an added bonus, Seepia Games is running an exciting campaign, celebrating the company’s two-year anniversary, through this week (ends January 26th) where players who log in before the closing date will receive a 500 Qual reward!

In case you haven’t noticed, the Windows Phone Store has been seeing explosive growth the past year. Not only in the number of new apps joining, but apps receiving the updates you want and demand. So here we are on another Saturday, about to take a timeout and reflect on what’s new and different in the Windows Phone app scene.

New

Molome– It had been teased for Windows Phone for over a year, but Molome is finally available for download. The app came out during the past week, had a few bugs and was quickly fixed with an update. The photography social network is huge in Asia and has some pretty cool filters. Grab it from the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

JAZZRADIO and SKY.FM– Digitally Imported is one of our favorite music services. Not only do you get access to the world’s best selection of EDM music, but you can become a premium member and get high quality streams. Now we have JAZZRADIO and SKY.FM for Windows Phone. Those are sister music services from the minds behind DI.FM. Instead you’re get a huge selection of jazz music on JAZZRADIO, while SKY.FM gives you a little bit of everything. Grab JAZZRADIO from the Windows Phone Store and don’t forget to get SKY.FM also from the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

Three– Living in the UK and happen to be a customer of Three? Well good news for you, Three has just released a Windows Phone app. The app will let you manage your account. View things like how much you’ve used up on your monthly allowance, recent bills, and more. Grab Three from the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

Basemark OS II– Need a way to compare your Windows Phone to the iPhone or Android handset your friends are using? While we can’t measure things like how happy your smartphone makes you, but we can stack CPU performance and more up against each other. For that, use Basemark OS II. That’s a benchmark app that just came to Windows Phone. You can grab the app from the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

The Huffington Post– Good news for those that are tired of needing to read the HuffPo in IE or through an RSS Reader. An official app for the Huffington Post is now available in the Windows Phone Store. The initial version leaves a bit still desired, but it’s at least available. Grab it in the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

Runtastic Fitness Apps– Holy mackerel. Runtastic just released four new fitness apps for Windows Phone. They more or less do the same thing, but for a respective exercise. These four apps will automatically tally and save workouts for push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and squats. They’re currently 50% for a limited time, so pick them up if you’re into fitness. All apps are $0.99 and can be grabbed either via URLs or QR codes below.

Runtastic Push-Ups

Runtastic Sit-Ups

Runtastic Pull-Ups

Runtastic Squats

2014 Sochi Results– Hankering for some Winter Olympic action? We’re under two weeks away from the 2014 edition starting, but you can ready by downloading the official results app for Windows Phone. The 2014 Sochi Results app for Windows Phone will give you the results live. Grab it from the Windows Phone Store.

Updated

Cinemagraph – head to the Windows Phone Store and you’ll see Nokia’s Cinemagraph is now at version 4.0. What’s new? How about the ability to create GIFs with the app, better integration with Nokia Storyteller and other general improvements. Grab it from the Windows Phone Store. (Free/Lumia only)

UnfollowSpy– One of our favorite apps for Windows Phone just received a big update. UnfollowSpy is an app that lets you manage your Twitter account by giving you some interesting metrics into your followers. The update is notable for now including Instagram support. Grab it from the Windows Phone Store. (Free/In-app purchases)

Path– When Path finally came it was riddled with bugs and relatively poor performance compared to its counterparts on iOS and Android. Hopefully things change fast and if this past update is any indication it just might. Path received a quick update to correct a bug when trying to check in. Grab the update from the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

Bing Sports– It took long enough, but Bing Sports can finally share articles. We’re hoping to see the other Bing apps on Windows Phone receive similar updates. The update for Bing Sports focused just on sharing as far as we could tell. There doesn’t appear to be any other changes. Grab it from the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

Phonly– There’s no point in beating around the bush. Phonly is one of our favorite Feedly clients for Windows Phone. Phonly is a feature packed and an overall gorgeous app. The latest update now lets you download full articles without needing to open IE or mobilizer. You also have the ability to tap and hold an article as read. Plus a new layout for the settings page, an updated login page, and more. Grab Phonly from the Windows Phone Store.

Games

Subway Surfers– We know you all like Temple Run, but Subway Surfers is one of our favorite endless runners for Windows Phone. This week it picked up an update with new levels the same day as Android and iOS. Pick up the Miami update for Subway Surfers in the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

Permia Duels– Need a good collectible card game on Windows Phone? They’re not very popular and definitely a niche genre, but we’ve really been digging Permia Duels on Windows Phone. You just might too. Grab it from the Windows Phone Store. (Free)

Have any favorite new apps from the past week? List them below!

There are a number of cute games available on the Windows Phone Store, a perfect example being ilomilo. Should you be looking for a cute 3D platformer, look no further than Paper Monsters. The title, just released on the platform by Mobot Studios, is a solid game worth purchasing. When you have a few minutes to waste on your Windows Phone, allow Paper Monsters to teleport you to a world of paper, cardboard and a few cotton balls.

The aim of the game, much like any standard platformer (think back to the likes of Super Mario), is to progress through each level, traversing past obstacles and destroying (or avoiding!) enemies along the way. What Paper Monsters does superb is presentation - the game is nothing short of beautiful. There aren't any simple graphics here, Mobot Studios has done a stunning job on the visuals, bringing the somewhat strange world to life.

You've got all the 2D elements you've grown to know and love and some 3D magic injected into the works. To polish everything off are adorable characters the player can connect with as he (or she) progresses through the selection of levels. But what would a video game be without music? The soundtrack to Paper Monsters is fantastic. It's good enough for us to agree with the developer and strongly recommend a good pair of headphones to truly appreciate the immersion offered.

Levels? There are 26 to choose from, spread across 6 unique worlds. More than enough content to keep you occupied for some time. Then you have the multiple game modes available.

Environments in the background can be explored through tube-like portals, enabling you to explore hidden locations to collect paper clips and buttons. Talking about buttons, there are both silver and gold buttons to collect on your travels. The latter coloured buttons can be spent in the store on optional accessories for your character. Some are humorous, while others are just hilarious. There are even underwater and flying power-ups to obtain on your travels.

The best part about Paper Monsters are the controls, which are easy to use and help keep the UI clutter-free. Regardless of age, you'll be able to pick up and enjoy the game.

It sounds like we're hyping Paper Monsters up, and rightly so. It's a solid game and certainly worthy of your arsenal. You can download Paper Monsters from the Windows Phone Store for $1.99 (Windows Phone 8 only - 105MB / compatible with 512MB RAM hardware). Paper Monsters is currently on sale with 50 percent off to celebrate the release on Windows Phone, so be sure to grab the title today!

Thanks, Mohamed A., for the tip!

Back in the early days of Windows Phone 7 gaming, online games were few and far between. One game – Haypi Kingdom– made a name for itself by offering an MMO experience in which players could build strongholds and war against each other. Haypi Kingdom was quite buggy though, and eventually the developer stopped supporting it.

Since then, Windows Phone 8 has come along and we can now play genuine MMORPGs like Order & Chaos Online (also lamentably unsupported by its publisher). But that old Haypi Kingdom-style design is still fun and addicting, it turns out. Flare Games (who also made Royal Revolt) have just released its second Windows Phone 8 game: Throne Wars. With beautiful artwork, an easy to learn interface, and lots of player-versus-player battles, Throne Wars might just become the casual MMO to beat.

Fortifying the settlement

Throne Wars is a massively multiplayer online game, so you’ll need an internet connection to play it. As the game begins, the player has just built a castle and founded a small kingdom. The game’s medieval world is filled with many such kingdoms, all fighting for resources and dominance over their neighbors. You’ll need to build defenses, gather resources, and form an army in order to stand a chance against opposing forces.

Each player only has a castle to start with. Quests will teach you the ropes and guide you through the construction of the settlement. First, you’ll need to build production facilities for the three chief construction resources: wood, stone, and metal. You’ll also need a storehouse to keep all of those resources.

Once the resources start rolling in, you’ll want to upgrade your castle and other buildings. Upgrading the castle allows you to research new technologies such as warfare, bureaucracy, and administration. Each of these unlocks new buildings and abilities. Several buildings and the settlement wall have their own technologies and improvements to research as well.

Time and In-App Purchases

Building, researching, and upgrading new things doesn’t just cost physical resources; it also takes time. Completion times start out short but get longer as you reach higher upgrade levels. These times don’t tend to be a big deal, because you’re usually waiting for resources to accumulate anyway. Impatient gamers can spend gems (premium currency) to speed up building times. But I don’t recommend it, as that’s always the worst use of hard currency in games.

The in-game shop sells a variety of boosts (such as temporary resource production or defense increases), as well as extra wood, stone, and metal. As far as I can tell, Throne Wars lacks an in-game auction house like Haypi Kingdom had. That is a drag, but we can expect new features from future updates.

Two things you’ll definitely want to buy with the gems you earn from leveling up and completing quests are the Ruler’s Chest and Special Chest bundles. Each one includes a great assortment of boosts, military units, and an extra worker for your settlement. An extra worker allows you to upgrade two things at once. These bundles can only be purchased once and they’re well worth the gem cost.

Join an alliance

Another goal you’ll get from quests is joining an alliance. And it just so happens that we have a Windows Phone Central alliance! Make you’re on the Pangaea (INT) server by heading to Settings/Server. Once you’re on the right server, simply go to Alliance and request to join WPCentral.

Alliance membership carries several benefits such as access to Alliance chat. One criticism I have about the game’s chat interface right now is that chat is completely during normal gameplay. You have to specifically enter chat in order to see messages. In the future, I’d love to see a dedicated area for chat messages (or something similar) on the main gameplay screen.

More to come

One major downside to Throne Wars at this point is the lack of cloud storage. Here is a free to play game that will likely entice many players to make In-App Purchases. But unless save files are stored on the cloud, we run the risk of losing those purchases when switching devices and/or reinstalling the game.

Player data is clearly stored online anyway, otherwise we couldn’t all see and attack each other’s settlements. The Settings page does mention that cloud storage is unavailable, which seems to hint that it will be added in the future. We’ll confirm with Flare Games by the time our review rolls around.

Flare Games has told us that Throne Wars will appear on Windows 8 and RT if the Windows Phone 8 version does well. Let’s hope that comes to pass, with both versions sharing save data on the cloud.

There’s much more to see and do in Throne Wars – I haven’t even touched on building an army and attacking other players yet! Stay tuned for our full review.

• Throne Wars– Windows Phone 8 – 41 MB – Free – Store Link

Thanks,  Mohamed A., for the tip!

Mobile operating systems aren't short of games when it comes to platformer titles and Windows Phone has some real gems available for download - we recently took a look at Paper Monsters to name but one. We're also major fans of myAppFree, bringing commercial apps and games to consumers for no cost at all. When both of these mix together, we're excited to see the end result. Cue PLATFORMANCE: Castle Pain, which is available for nothing over the course of the next 24 hours.

If you've not heard of PLATFORMANCE: Castle Pain before, it's a popular indie title available on the Xbox 360, which made its way to Windows Phone. You're tasked with saving the princess by bypassing challenging obstacles that stand in your way.

Should you be a fan of "old school" gaming, this is a title worth checking out. You can download PLATFORMANCE: Castle Pain from the Windows Phone Store for free (usually $0.99).

Last November, gaming giant Rockstar Games surprised us all by announcing that their mobile pot of Playstation 2/Xbox hit Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be coming to Windows Phone 8 alongside the iOS and Android versions. A lot of the larger console publishers end up skipping Windows Phone with their mobile ports, so the announcement of a Windows Phone version seemed to prove that our platform has reached a new level of market penetration and acceptance.

On December 11, Rockstar announced that San Andreas would release the following week. But then the release date rolled around for iOS and Android with no Windows Phone version in sight. Rockstar went on to belatedly explain that our version would be coming soon. How soon? Here we are a month later, and San Andreas has arrived at last! But exactly which Windows Phone devices will it run on, and does it support MOGA controllers? And why doesn't it have Xbox features? Find out after the break!

Supported devices?

Displayed prominently at the top of the game’s Store page is this ominous warning:

“PLEASE NOTE: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is only supported on the following devices: Nokia Lumia: 1520, 1320, 822, 820, 810, HTC: 8XT.”

Nobody with any sense expected San Andreas to run on 512 MB RAM devices like the Nokia Lumia 520 - developers often struggle to get technically demanding games running on low memory devices. So the exclusion of the 520 and its brethren comes as no surprise.

What is strange is the exclusion of several devices with at least 1 GB of RAM, starting with the Lumia 920. Considering that the 920 was Nokia’s flagship phone in 2012, San Andreas’ failure to run on it would come as a blow. Nor is the Lumia 1020 (which bears twice the RAM: 2 GB) on the supported devices list. Does that mean that two of Nokia’s most popular and powerful phones can’t play this Grand Theft Auto?

Luckily, that’s not the case. As you can tell from the photograph and video in this very article, San Andreas downloads and runs just fine on the Lumia 920. We can only assume the 1020 plays the game as well. Perhaps these devices (and their variants) have compatibility issues later in the game. Either that, or Rockstar’s team simply left out a few compatible Windows Phones by mistake.

Other reader-confirmed compatible devices include: HTC 8X, Lumia 925, 928, and 1020.

Note that when you first download the game, you’re just downloading a 20 MB installer. The installer than downloads the rest of the 2.5 GB game. As with other Windows Phone games, you'll probably need extra space to download the game. Then again, perhaps the installer method circumvents the usual requirement of 4x free space. Let us know your experience in the comments!

Screen time-outs will interrupt the download process, but thankfully the installer supports resuming. Still, I recommend turning off screen time-outs while downloading (if your phone supports it) to make things go smoother.

Controls and MOGA support (or lack thereof)

San Andreas offers several control options, such as a traditional classic control scheme and an adapted one. Either way, players control protagonist CJ’s movement with a virtual thumbstick n the left side of the screen. Action buttons such as attack and “take vehicle” appear on the right side of the screen. Button positions can even be customized to your liking. After securing a vehicle, you can choose between three control methods for steering.

The touch controls work very well, and anyone who plays console-style titles like those produced by Gameloft will feel right at home with them. But no touch scheme can ever match the responsiveness of a physical controller – not when the game was originally designed for controllers. Hence many of us hoped for MOGA controller support, especially since the Android version of the game supports it.

Sadly, the Windows Phone version of San Andreas does not work with MOGA controls at present. Developers tell us that adding MOGA controls is fairly easy and painless, so we can only assume that Rockstar’s Windows Phone team did not know about MOGA’s Windows Phone support. The MOGA website’s product pages and packaging make absolutely no mention of Windows Phone, after all – something I lamented in my MOGA Pro Controller review.

San Andreas is a massive game, and thus will likely require a few title updates for bug fixes and optimizations. There’s still a chance of Rockstar adding MOGA support in a title update. Whether or not you own a MOGA controller yet, please tweet @MOGAanywhere and @RockstarSupport to let them know we want MOGA support in San Andreas for Windows Phone!

No Xbox Live, no cloud

Woe to Achievement hunters: the Windows Phone version of San Andreas does not support Xbox Live features. The original Xbox version of the game didn’t offer Achievements either, so it’s not like we’re losing out on something that people got on other platforms. But Grand Theft Auto IV and V on Xbox 360 do both take full advantage of Xbox Live, so it’s a shame that Rockstar chose to skip out on Xbox Live features for the Windows Phone version.

The decision to publish San Andreas as an indie title is emblematic of the problems Xbox Live on Windows Phone has faced for the last couple of years. Because Xbox Live certification is more time consuming and costly than iOS's Game Center and Android's Google Play, many publishers - even those with strong relationships with Microsoft - choose to forego Xbox Live on Windows Phone. Microsoft still seems to be securing a few Xbox Live releases here and there, but those releases are few and far between. Nor does the big MS make any real efforts to promote the few Xbox Live games that do sneak onto their mobile platform.

The lack of Achievements is one thing... After all, iOS and Android don't get Xbox Live Achievements either. But the Windows Phone version of the game lacks the cloud save support that the other versions offer. Save data seems to be stored solely on the phone, which means you'll lose it if you switch devices (as I'm about to do) or have to reinstall the game for any reason. Combined with the lack of MOGA support, it feels like we got slightly short shrift on this one. Not that we shouldn't be grateful for Rockstar's support! But Windows Phone users do need to tweet and email Rockstar to ask for those missing features.

Get your grand theft on

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a massive open-world game that takes place in a fictional California setting in the year 1992. The game tells a thrilling crime story, filled with violence, betrayal, drug use, and harsh language. The story will take dozens of hours to complete, and with optional side missions and races you could easily get a hundred hours of gameplay from this one.

The game offers a number of graphical settings that allow players to tweak the game’s appearance to their tastes. Want a huge draw distance? You can do that, if you turn the detail down a little. At default settings on a Lumia 920, the frame rate is smoother than any of Gameloft’s 3D Windows Phone 8 games. The beefier Lumia 1520 should be able to display even more detail without losing too many frames.

If you crave console-style games on the go or just love Grand Theft Auto (and your phone can handle it), don’t miss San Andreas on Windows Phone. You'll live without the Achievements, I promise.

Thanks to SlimAndShady, TNTJudbud, and everyone else who tipped us about the game's release!

• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Windows Phone 8 (1 GB of RAM or more) – 2.5 GB – $6.99 – Store Link

Dark Lands is a popular fantasy game for Windows Phone.  It combines elements of an endless runner game with a dash of a role-playing combat game.  As the game approaches the 800K download mark, the developers are looking to expand.

To help fund the cost of development the developer is set to start a Kickstarter campaign on January 28^th.  Additionally, while we have seen special free offers for Dark Lands in the past, the developer is planning to permanently set the game price at free.

The game expansion will include campaign and multi-player modes.  You will also have a survival mode, which is basically how the game plays now.  While keeping Windows Phone as the mother platform, the developers also want to port the game to iOS, Android, Windows 8, Steam and Wii U platforms.

Kickstarter contributions begin at $3 Canadian and will earn you a thank you email from the developer and max out at $5,000 Canadian that will earn you a trip to Prague to visit the developers, signed artwork from the game, a t-shirt, your face silhouette on enemies in the game, and more.

Again, the Kickstarter campaign will not launch until January 28th but you can read all the fine print and register for notifications now at the Dark Lands’ Kickstarter Page.  Look for the pricing change to take effect on the 28th as well.

If you cannot wait until January 28th to give Dark Lands a try, there is currently a free trial version available.  Dark Lands is currently running $.99 and is available for Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices.  You can find Dark Lands here in the Windows Phone Store.